Proto:Animaniacs (SNES)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Animaniacs (SNES).

  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

To do: Get maps ripped for a better comparison. Also would be nice if it got the GoldS treatment since many graphics could be hiding. Pinky and the Brain boss possibly is further implemented going by the test that appears in the scifi stage? Lots of layout and object placement differences are all over. Document them. Find a sound test or some other way to access the music (Adventure stage minecart level has different intro). Document the other rooms not covered, most of which are just glitchy incomplete messes.

This prototype, which was acquired as a set of loose EPROMs, has a date of June 11, 1994 written on its EPROM labels. Being a good 5 months before the November, 1994 release in the US, all of the levels are here but in various forms of completion, giving an overall impression that the game design was mostly complete at this point and work was mainly focused on getting all of the graphics in.

General Differences

Proto	Final

• The copyright info was simplified.
• The options and password screens do not seem to be implemented, as selecting either of them goes to the studio map.
• Selecting Game Start also goes to the studio map, skipping the opening cutscene and Studio HQ level (the latter can still be accessed through the level select, however).
• Pressing Select while unpaused in a level resets the game in the prototype. This does nothing in the final.
• Pressing Select while paused in a level returns to the studio map in the final. This does nothing in the prototype.

Proto	Final

• The mountains in the background got more of a light blue tone applied to them in the final.
• The clouds remain static in the prototype, but they scroll to the left in the final.

Proto	Final

• The stage select in the prototype has a different background as well as a no damage toggle (press Select to toggle it on/off) that was removed in the final (although the flag still remains and can be activated with a Pro Action Replay code).
• The final boss fight against Pinky and the Brain has its' own level slot in the prototype. It was consolidated with the editing room stages in the final.

• The game over screen in the prototype does not show the number of continues the player has.

Graphical Differences

Proto	Final

The cutscene of Ralph capturing a Warner sibling has a different background.

Proto	Final

The speech bubble that appears at the water tower on the studio map when at least one Warner sibling has been captured by Ralph was changed.

Proto	Final

In the prototype, cleared levels are marked with an X. In the final, they're marked with a flag.

Proto	Final

In the prototype, the Editing Room is blocked with a sign. In the final, it's blocked by an X.

Aquatic Stage

Scene 1

Proto	Final

• Much of the background and its palette was redone in the final, including the background mountains, all of the water, and some finer details of the island with the palm tree which also seems to be positioned further back in the prototype.
• The background in the final has multiple layers of parallax scrolling that move rapidly even when the player is standing still, whereas the prototype's water just remains static.
• The intro gimmick where the supporting characters wave you off when you get on the raft hasn't been implemented yet, and your character doesn't play their balancing animation by default as they do in the final until you actually move on the raft.
• The layout of the level in general is different in a lot of parts.

Proto	Final

• The clam shell graphics in their static state look different in the prototype. Jumping on them appears to otherwise display the same graphics as in the final.

Scene 2

• The palette for this area has somewhat more bright contrasting colors compared to the duller colors in the final.
• Much of the layout for this area has small differences all over the place.
• All of the octopus mini bosses up until the last one only require one hit before disappearing, lacking any animation for being defeated.
• Many objects are missing, including the barrels and ropes that randomly decorate the ship in the final. Crates that can be smashed are also completely missing.

Proto	Final

• The entire set of graphics for the ship is in a more primitive state in the prototype with lots of additional polish being missing, primarily the wear and tear of the wooden textures. The front of the ship is also missing.
• The sky is a lighter blue-green without a gradient in the prototype.

Proto	Final

• The bottomless pits had wooden details added so they didn't appear to just be empty voids.

Proto	Final

• The front portion of the ships lack detail as can be expected, and the water spouts were pushed just a bit further away in the final.

Proto	Final

• The basic crows nest landing area lacks the pole sticking up from it with the skull and crossbones flag, and it's missing the two metal plating graphics that wrap around it.
• The graphics for the entryway back onto the ship are more primitive and come more to a point rather than the more square-ish way they bend atop one another in the final.

Proto	Final

• Ralph tries to capture you here in the final, but he's missing in the prototype.
• The crate objects have different graphics in addition to different coloring.

Proto	Final

• The boss starts off just standing on the edge of the ship in the prototype and only mounts the octopus head after it rises up from behind. In the final he's already sitting on the octopus' head as it rises up from the back.

• A unique feature in the prototype battle is a miniature octopus graphic that randomly floats around the screen. It doesn't have any hit detection and seems to be in a primitive testing phase, remaining constant throughout the fight in a static frame of animation. It's likely this was an experiment for a projectile of sorts that the main octopus would somehow summon which eventually ended up getting cut from the final game.

Fantasy Stage

Scene 2

Proto	Final

• The palette for the ground-level clouds and ground itself is different in the prototype, keeping to a purple theme between both, whereas the final makes them more distinct from one another. The sky starts off purple in the prototype but continuously switches between different gradients just as it does in the final.
• The ground graphics were redrawn in the final. The bottom edge of the ground extends further down in the final so you can actually see the very edge, but the prototype's ground just goes into the clouds so no edge can be seen.

Proto	Final

• The castle in the background had small details added to its outer wall.

Scene 3

Proto	Final

• The bricks have more primitive shading in the prototype, gaining more definition in the final. They also appear more visible from the bottom in the prototype due to the HUD being positioned differently.
• The ground has shading in the final which is absent in the prototype.

Scene 4

Proto	Final

• The final starts with the camera positioned so that more of the bottom part of the stage is visible.
• The background brick wall was redrawn with more emphasis on making it look like standard bricks.
• The colored bricks were changed to slightly darker shades in the final.

Proto	Final

• The gigantic anvils appear to be a smaller graphic that was enlarged in the prototype, giving it a very pixelated appearance.

Proto	Final

• The ground for this area uses different tiles both on the top and bottom levels.

Proto	Final

• The playing card enemies were redrawn and given more detail in the final. In the prototype they march back and forth while walking, but in the final they move by jumping instead of marching.

Proto	Final

• Another example of their different appearance, specifically when they're attacked and get thrown into the air.

Proto	Final

• The drawing of Pinky's face on the castle wall originally was more pixelated in appearance and colored in purple.

• This enemy normally only shows up in the boss rush mode that comes before the final boss. It's in a very primitive state where it just keeps going up and down and doesn't have any hit detection.

Adventure Stage

Scene 1

Proto	Final

Koko the Gorilla has a slightly different color palette for her main body in the prototype.

Scene 3

Proto	Final

• Buttons' sprite was changed so his idle stance before you approach him appears more scared rather than nonchalant.

Proto	Final

• Your supporting characters aren't waiting for you at the end of the stage yet in the prototype, and the way to exit the area is to go through the empty door-shaped entryway in the back, whereas the final has you just continue to the right of the screen.

Scene 4

Proto	Final

• This is the most incomplete area in the entire prototype. Much of the general level design of the final is here but just with very primitive placeholder graphics, making it clear they were only just beginning work.

Proto	Final

• The walls that crush down on the ground have some basic work done on them, and the piston platform traps that jut out of the ground have a test version that plays its basic animation when you jump on top of it.

• This horizontal variant of the piston platform doesn't appear in the final game.

Proto	Final

• Another area showing how most of the general level layout had already been figured out at this point. Random lettering is used to keep track of what doors connect to where.

Scene 5

Proto	Final

• The boss chase area is also all placeholder graphics, although the boss itself has a lot of its graphics in place already, albeit with white lines protruding out for some reason.
• The minecart lacks some extra shadowing details around the upper edges. Yakko also overlaps it showing there's still layering issues.

Proto	Final

• The basic idea for the minecart climbing up is here, but it's still all placeholder graphics.

Proto	Final

• The music changes in the final as this scene plays out as a clear reference to E.T., but the prototype only has the basic idea laid out with a placeholder graphic for the moon and not much else.

Sci-Fi Stage

Scene 1

Proto	Final

• The R2D2 reference was a darker shade of blue in the prototype.

Scene 3

After you get abducted by the UFO the prototype takes you to this area which normally is the second to last scene in the final. Its layout differs in a lot of areas and is completely devoid of any objects or enemies. The music also is the regular stage music from the first area of the level. The Nurse normally is standing at the end of the area in the final before you climb a ladder to the next part, but they haven't implemented her here yet either.

The Brain in his human suit appears just running in place for some reason. He doesn't have any hit detection. Since placing him here would spoil the final boss, it seems likely this just was here for some sort of testing purposes.

The next room is the most interesting. Normally after you climb the ladder in the previous room in the final it will take you to an area where you are chased by a cogwheel, but in the prototype it brings you to this room which is completely absent from the final game. The Alien creature which normally only appears in the first part of this level is here but has no hit detection. A large metal door to the left can be ran into to make it rise up, and going forward from there will quickly warp you to the vertical elevator lift area which normally appears right after you first enter the UFO in the final.

If you pause the game and use the debug tools to move further to the left, however, you can see that there's more to this area. It consists of a series of metal doors that are in the way, so it seems this area was planned to be somewhere where you keep trying to get past these doors while evading the Alien creature. Pits are one of the other obstacles that impede your path.

Crates are another obstacle that appear throughout. One of the computer terminal things in the background also has a variant with a skull and crossbones on it.

Getting to the very left end of the room reveals what was intended to be the original entrance to this area, so it's obvious that the area you start off at was actually the ending, which explains why it warps you to the next room so soon after you first enter. It's a mystery which room they were intending for you to enter from.

Cogwheel chase

Proto	Final

• The background in the prototype isn't a gradient yet, and it looks like the original plan was the ground you walk in could be seen extending into the shadows in the background. Stars pass by every so often in the prototype, something not seen in in the final.
• The vertical structures are thinner and look to be the same material as the ground.